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Twenty five migrants trying to reach Europe drown off the coast of Libya

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Rescuers carry a bag containing the dead body of a migrant at the coast of Tajoura, east of Tripoli, Libya, on June 27, 2017. Photo: Reuters
Agence France-Presse

The bodies of at least 25 migrants who drowned trying to reach Europe were found near Tripoli on Tuesday, the Libyan Red Crescent said.

Some of the corpses were washed ashore on a beach near the Libyan capital, but most were on rocks off the suburb of Tajoura in a state of decomposition, a photographer at the scene said.

The onset of warm weather has seen a surge in migrants boarding boats for the perilous journey across the Mediterranean, putting pressure on rescue services.

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Italy’s coastguard said more than 8,000 migrants had been rescued off the coast of Libya in a 48-hour period to Tuesday.

Its Libyan counterpart said it had rescued 147 migrants, including 19 women and four children, off the western town of Sabratha on Tuesday morning.

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Most were young people from Cameroon, Sudan, Mali and Senegal, said Libyan navy spokesman General Ayoub Qassem.

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